Hit or Error? Baseball Digest's 2001 Rookie Edition Reexamined

Welcome to the 39th installment of "Hit or Error", our weekly whirl in the flux-capacitor, fueled by optimism, hindsight, and whatever pine-tar cologne they’re selling in Cooperstown these days. Normally we crack open a crusty old Baseball Digest, flip to the Mets page, and bask in the glow (or glare) of a dozen fresh-faced prospects. But the March 2001 issue threw us a curve: instead of giving every club its own spread, the editors lumped prospects together by position—one giant talent buffet.

Adding to the curveball: the cover boy was none other than Edgardo Alfonzo, then the quiet heart of a Mets team still warm from a World Series run. Seeing Fonzie front and center felt like a tease, a nostalgic reminder of what the Mets’ farm system could produce at its best, even as the rest of the magazine offered a grab bag of maybe-somedays and long shots.

 Lumping prospects together by position may have been a great idea in theory. In practice? It exposed the Mets’ farm system like one of those harsh fluorescent lights over a day‑old sushi bar. Among pitchers, New York had four entries, three of whom (Grant Roberts, Eric Cammack, and Dicky Gonzalez) we have already written about in the past. The lone newcomer is Jarrod “Double‑R or Double‑G?” Riggan. The outfield section re‑ran Alex Escobar’s scouting report now with 10% more rehab reports, and that’s it. No catchers. No infielders. Not even a utility guy to carry Escobar’s bags. If Y2K didn’t crash the computers, 2001 sure crashed the Mets’ prospect pipeline—more Space Odyssey than space to dream, as HAL might’ve said, “I’m sorry, Mets fans, I’m afraid I can’t draft that.”

So with the cupboard this bare,and with Sid Finch already spoken for by George Plimpton, and Joe Shlabotnik ineligible due to his long-standing commitment to the Green Grass League, we're left with just one Met name in the 2001 Baseball Digest scouting roundup. That’s right: Jarrod Riggan, come on down!Grab a seat, young man; the entire "Hit or Error" spotlight is yours. Time to find out if you were a future bullpen ace or just the answer to a Mets trivia question no one’s ever asked.

Buckle up, folks. Time to see if he was a real-deal diamond in the rough or just a bullpen arm they found next to the rosin bag.

Jerrod Riggan’s 2001's Baseball Odyssey

Back when "Baseball Digest" dropped its March 2001 rookie preview, the editors practically handed Jarrod Riggan the Mets closers role.

“Perhaps the surpirse pitcher of the year in our organization. He can either be a set‑up guy or a closer. He has a fastball, slider, and split‑fingered fastball. Converted 28 of 29 save opportunties at Binghamton.”

Not bad for a guy who had answered a Mets tryout ad in a Washington‑state newspaper three springs earlier. At Double‑A he’d been lights‑out: a 1.11 ERA, a WHIP slimmer than Ally McBeal, and enough punch‑outs (10.9 per nine) to make radar guns feel useful again. The Mets’ bullpen, meanwhile, was being held together by duct tape and John Franco’s rosary beads, so excitement was justified.

Riggan debuted in Queens in August 2000 only because Hurricane‑level rain in Norfolk, Virginia kept Eric Cammack’s flight grounded. Two perfect innings later, he disappeared an early sign this script wouldn’t follow the Disney formula.

In 2001, he bounced between Norfolk and Shea like a grounder hit by Mike Bordick ,quick, sharp, but never quite solid. five promotions before the All‑Star break. Once settled, he was solid, a 3.40 ERA in 48 innings, ERA+ of 122, and enough late‑inning calm to convince GM Steve Phillips he was "untouchable"… right up until Phillips sent him packing that December in the Roberto Alomar megadeal. (So much for untouchable.)

Cleveland gave him a spot on the ’02 roster, and his ERA nudged up to 7.64 — a number that speaks for itself. After a short, bumpy encore in ’03, Riggan chose Door #2: Japan.

With the Hanshin Tigers he rediscovered the guy from Binghamton—2.07 ERA over parts of two seasons, and the rare chance to pitch in front of 50,000 fans waving yellow thundersticks instead of muttering about rush‑hour traffic on the Grand Central. But like I said before, this isn’t a Disney script , an elbow blowout in June 2004 led to Tommy John surgery and, effectively, the end of his pro career. He made one valiant comeback attempt in the Mets’ minors, hung up his spikes in ’05, and went home to coach kids who might never know the glory days he once chased on the field.

So, "Hit or Error"? In Queens he logged a respectable 3.40 ERA season—a solid single through the 5‑6 hole, but his overall MLB line (5.19 ERA, 1.71 WHIP) reads more like a routine grounder. Add in the successful NPB detour and he’s no whiff, either. Jarrod Riggan finishes as a Fielder’s Choice: didn’t quite cash the closer‑of‑the‑future check, but hustled down the line, took the extra base overseas, and left the game with a story worth telling. And around here, that’s good enough to keep the inning alive.